Rabbit on a Swim Team

By Charlotte Riegel –

Years ago I read a story about forest animals deciding to begin a school for animals to attend. It was determined that all the animals would take all the courses. It reminded me of our public schools.

In this story the rabbit started at the top of his class in running, but developed a nervous twitch in his leg muscles because of so much make-up work in swimming. The eagle was a problem child and severely disciplined for being a nonconformist when insisting on getting to the top of the tree his way, flying instead of climbing. The duck was excellent in swimming and very poor in running. The squirrel encountered constant frustration in flying because he was forced to start from the ground up instead of from the tree top down.

I did not excel in foreign language studies, saw little use for studying history, and enjoyed English studies as long as I was allowed to do it ‘my way’, i.e. read and write stories, but became frustrated and discouraged when I was forced to interpret poetry according to the instructor’s protocol.

As my children wound their way through the school system it became obvious that each had their own ‘bent’ and excelled when taught and guided in their areas of natural proficiency. One of my boys was, and still is, a gifted musician, however most of his schooling offered little instruction in music. He took private lessons but was unable to spend much time practicing because his regular schooling and homework took up so much of his time. I feared he would quite high school before graduating because of his boredom and frustrations. Thankfully he didn’t.

Now as I watch grandchildren fighting their way through that same system it is apparent we are still a long way from understanding the uniqueness with which we are all created. David reminds us in Psalm 139:13 how God created each of us from the inside out before we ever took our first breath of oxygen.

In Ephesians 2:10 Paul encourages us to recognize that we are God’s handiwork. Pastor Tony Evans encourages us to recognize that we are ‘custom-made’, not manufactured on an assembly line.

Prayer: “God, help me to recognize the uniqueness of others and grant me the grace to avoid attempting to make them fill a mold they were never created to fit.”

Quote: “When you or someone you know doesn’t fit society’s mold, it’s okay to make a new one” (Fairchild, Lori. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Hooked on Hockey/What Hockey Taught Us).